About 25 percent of EMS calls made in Detroit in 2010 were considered true emergencies, according to the Greater Detroit Area Health Council.

This week, the health council will officially launch an app to help change that statistic. The Find MI Care app, downloadable for IOS and Android systems and available online at findmicare.org, features a searchable database that allows patients to find low-cost hospitals and free clinics in their area. The app serves seven counties in the Detroit area: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Washtenaw, Monroe and Livingston.

GDAHC received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation two years ago for $1.3 million. Of that, it spent $200,000 on the Find MI Care app. Troy-based Media Genesis developed the app.

On the app, patients can search for clinics based on the services they need. The categories include primary care, dental, women’s services, children’s services, behavioral health, vision, specialty services and medication assistance. Each of those categories has options for more specific searches.

In partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the GDAHC puts out a brochure of low-cost and free clinics every two years. It was Henry Ford Health System that approached the council and asked: Why not do this in real time?

“That’s how the app got started a year ago,” said Laurie Arora, director of member relations at the health council. “That’s the value of this app, it’s up to date.”

Arora said the print brochure is still in production, but so much can change in a year in the health industry that every two years wasn’t good enough. The app by comparison is updated about every six months.

The app is free to download and the website is free to access.

The health council, which was founded in 1944, has a multistakeholder membership group that includes hospitals, employers, health plans, provider organizations, physicians, labor organizations and governmental bodies.